DFONewsletter2011

DanceFlurry News
The 1990s logo
Published annually by the DanceFlurry Organiza.on
I President’s Message ................................................. 1
What’s Coming up at the 2012 Flurry ........................ 2
An Upli&ing Feat: The Great DanceFlurry
Floor Project ...................................................... 3
Fes.val Memories, beginning on page...................... 3
The Flurry Roots Band: A History of the
Fes.val Finale .................................................... 4
The Flurry Fes.val: Growing Be8er Year by Year ...... 6
President’s Message
Jennifer Brown
W
e’ve had an exciting year
this year! The 2011 Flurry
Festival was another amazing three
-day whirlwind of dance and
music, and we’ve already started planning the 25th
anniversary festival. The Adirondack Dance Weekend
sold out with its fabulous lineup of contra and English
country dance opportunities. The Capital Swing dancers
have been filling up the calendar with dances, workshops,
and weekend-long events. Our contra dances have been
well attended, and all of our affiliate groups have been
adding to the excellent program of events available in the
broader Capital Region. In addition, the membership
committee worked to provide members with
opportunities to socialize before dances, and the youth
committee has reached out to bring the next generation
the joy of music and dancing.
Volume 5 2011
This year the DanceFlurry Organization reached a new
benchmark by obtaining our own 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax
status after many years of being a subsidiary of the
Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS). We pursued
independent status in order to make it easier to obtain
grants and receive donations, including the corporate
matching donations that some of our members have
given us over the years. We remain a member of CDSS,
whose guidance and support over the years we truly
appreciate. Our mission remains the same: to connect
and inspire through traditional dance and music.
Volunteers and members are the core of this
organization, including those who organize and help with
our dance series, those who bring us the Flurry Festival
each year, and the board members themselves. We could
not present any of these great events without them and
our supportive participants. This is one of the most
inspiring groups of people to work with, because
everyone has a passion to help with our goal and put the
spring in our step! If you have any inclination to help out
by volunteering or serving on the Board, please visit the
sign-up page on our website or talk to a dance series
organizer or member of the Board. We need YOU!
You will find updates on some of our other projects in
this newsletter, including one of our more ambitious
ones: researching what it takes to build a dance floor.
Enjoy this newsletter and our coming year of events and
please take the time to fill out and return the annual
appeal/membership form with your contribution.
Thank you!
Carrots
Cider
farm-fr
esh eggs
Spinac
h
a little tr
aditional
banjo and
saw music
and clogg
ing
George Wil from
son and C
olin
McCoy to
spice up th
e
farmers’ m
arket
experience!
The DFO Outreach Commi(ee has been out and about at various sites to promote all that the DFO has to offer. Thanks to John
Guay, Vonnie Estes, Tami Flanders, Diane Bell, Don Bell, George Wilson, and Colin McCoy for their work as ambassadors.
Da n ce Fl u rry Or ga n iza o n
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DanceFlurry News 2011
Page 2
A Quarter
Century of the
Flurry Festival!
The festival is the
focus of this year’s
newsletter. We hope
that the stories and
Festival memories
that fill these pages help convey the creativity, passion, and love
that have made this such a successful event.
What’s Coming up at the 2012 Flurry
Peter Davis, Flurry Fesval Program Director
The dust has hardly settled, the last few yards of speaker cord has
been coiled, and lost and found items are barely packed up before
Peter Davis has begun thinking about the next year’s Flurry.
Program Director of the Flurry Festival since 2006, he describes the
plans for the 25th Anniversary Flurry Festival which will
take place February 17-19, 2012.
I
n putting together the puzzle of the Flurry’s 32 hours
of programming, we try to achieve a balance between
our amazing local music and dance performers and
teachers, and others who are regarded nationally and
internationally as experts in their field. In addition, we
include both revered masters and younger up-and-coming
artists. Although the process is not quite complete, we
know that for our 25th anniversary celebration we will
welcome:
• Dudley Laufman, one of the pioneers of the
Northeast contra revival
• Fennig's All-Star String Band, who many of us can
say played the first Northern fiddle music we ever heard
• Bare Necessities, featuring the great pianist Jacqueline
Schwab, whose first English Country dance album blew
many of our minds
• David Millstone, the contradance historian who will
present discussions on dance history
We take your feedback seriously, and many performers
who got the best reviews from last year have been
engaged again, including Yves Moreau (Balkan dance
instructor), France Moreau (children's dance instructor),
Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble (Zydeco band from
Louisiana), the Pinewoods Balkan band, and Girl
Howdy (Western swing
and country).
We are excited to welcome
back some highly reviewed
dance leaders and bands
from past years such as
Lindy Hop Heaven,
Kieran Jordan (Irish dance
instructor), Genticorum
(dynamite Quebecois
group), Gene Murrow
(highly regarded English
Country dance leader),
Notorious (contra dance
band), and the Ilusha
Tsinadze Band, who will
teach and play for dances
from the Republic of
Georgia. We're also excited
about the old-time duo of
Pete Sutherland and Jim
Burns paired with square
dance caller Will Mentor.
Of course, these are just a
small number of the
performers who will be
gracing our stages, but we
hope that this little
snapshot will whet your
appetite for our 25th
anniversary Flurry
extravaganza. The final
schedule will be available
by mid-December—keep
an eye out for it on the
website:
www.flurryfestival.org.
Photos, from top: Katherine Wardle,
Lawrence White & Dale Windsor
It takes a commi8ee of commi(ee chairs, each of
whom works with many volunteers, to plan and
present the Fesval each year. The 2011 and/or 2012
commi(ees members: Sharon Alley, Don Bell, JoAnn
Bisogno, Cathy Corrigan, Leslie Dykeman, Patricia
Evans, Rich Futyma, Jennie Grey, Jason Grodsky,
Cindy Guadagno, Doug Haller, Bob Henshaw, Jeff
Herchenroder, Noralee Itchoak, Dan Kerwood, Bev
Lazar-Davis, David Lazarus, Jim Mead, Pat Melita,
Joan Otero, Craig Palmer, Janet Palmer, Brad Peak,
Gregory Pedrick, Mary-Jane Pelzer, Laura Perrault,
Nancy Peterson, Terri Roben, Paul Rosenberg,
Rosalee Ruediger-Hamelin, Michael Stra(on, Mike &
Pat Thomas, Deborah Trupin, Lois Walsh, Linda Wicks, Jerry Wiley, and Catherine Wronski (see cover for directors).
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An Upli&ing Feat:
The Great DanceFlurry Floor Project
Don Bell, DFO Vice-President
Ian Hamelin, Flurry Fesval Technical Director
Rich Pisarri, DFO Treasurer
D
ancers love the Flurry Festival for a hundred
different reasons and offer both accolades and
suggestions. Many Flurry evaluations include comments
on improving the floors in the larger halls. This would
enhance the quality of the dance experience and also
reduce the risk of strain and injury to dancers. Some of
the characteristics of a good dance floor are:
• Appropriate traction: Too much can cause knees to
twist when turning, too little can result in falls.
• Just the right amount of give: Too hard causes
repetitive strain injuries, too soft or springy is tiring.
• A cushiony surface: This absorbs the energy of falls
and reduces injuries.
• An even plane: A level surface with minimal
variations across the entire floor eliminates
“clumping” of the dancers and reduces risk of falls.
Sprung wood floors provide the ideal base for dancing of
all kinds. One of the best floors at the Flurry is the
wooden floor in the Saratoga Music Hall (above City
Hall), a favored venue. For years the festival has rented
unsprung wood floor panels to cover the carpeted dance
venues. This unsprung flooring placed on top of the
springy carpet imparts a sturdy but resilient feeling—good
for a long weekend of dancing. However, this type of
flooring would not work well on top of the vinyl-covered
concrete floors in the larger halls of the City Center. It
would not significantly increase dancer comfort and could
potentially harm the surface of the vinyl floor underneath.
The festival directors have remained in a quandary about
how to improve these dance floors.
The Roadhouse Floor At Pinewoods Dance Camp in
August 2010, Don Bell met Warren Argo, one of the
seven founding members of the Northwest FolkFloor
Coalition in Seattle. The coalition raised money for the
This 5-foot-square
panel of the
second prototype
dance floor shows
the 1/2” foam
pads on perimeter
connecng boards
and center
“sleeper” boards.
The foam pads provide springiness and physical isolaon
from the floor, which should address the City Center
management’s concerns about damage to the vinyl floors.
Roadhouse portable dance floor that has been used for
each Northwest Folklife Festival since 1987. The
Roadhouse floor is a simple three-layer, sandwich like
design, consisting of 4-by-8-foot masonite sheets over
two layers of Homasote (a fiber wallboard made from
recycled paper, similar in composition to papier-mâché).
Once assembled, the whole surface is taped together and
waxed. While not very resilient, Homasote absorbs some
shock from impact, mostly because of the air trapped
between the layers; and at least, it is more forgiving than
concrete.
The authors of this article formed a DFO committee and
began discussions with Andrew Pate, who has designed
two professional and commercially successful portable
dance floor systems—the kiwiFLOOR and the Rosco
SubFloor. Our charge to Andrew was to improve on the
design of the Northwest Folklife floor, creating a portable
dance floor that would be light, durable, resilient,
affordable, easy to install, and designed to work well on
top of carpet, tile, or cement floors.
Two Prototypes Andrew developed a prototype dance
floor panel made of Fibrex (a plastic and wood composite
material). Under the Fibrex panels was a layer of
polyethylene-based foam. Four panels of this prototype
floor were assembled in a demo space at the 2011 Flurry.
Dancers tried out the floor and their feedback led to the
conclusion that the first "prototype" was not resilient
enough for our purposes.
Andrew designed a second prototype portable dance
floor that improved on the original design by adapting
the Rosco foam pad design underneath and using sturdier
Baltic Birch plywood for the flooring surface. These
adaptations have significantly increased the springiness
and durability of the floor, providing a product that will
last for years. This new product will be demonstrated at
the 2012 Festival and festival patrons’ feedback will likely
be helpful once again.
Continued on page 9
Fes.val Memories
My wife, Laurie, and I have been attending the
Flurry for over ten years. Each year is as wonderful as the
previous. When we approach a dance hall, with a dance in
progress, we immediately feel the allure. We cannot get our
dance shoes on fast enough. The festival often coincides with
Laurie’s birthday and Valentine’s Day and is the most
romantic time of the year for us. Having the opportunity to
dance with Laurie for three days is a priceless gift. The
Flurry is a little piece of heaven on earth. May it continue
on and on. Joe De Paolo
Photo: Don Bell
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DanceFlurry News 2011
Page 4
Lawrence White
the jamming at the evening dance jams and final Sunday
afternoon was really sizzling....I wanted to have that
sound at the Flurry.”
The Flurry Roots Band:
A History of the Fes.val Finale
Liz Stell, member of the band Spare Parts
and Roots Band Organizer
What appears to be a spontaneous jamming session for the
Festival’s last dance is actually a carefully planned musical event
that has evolved over time.
F
eeding the dance and music community, keeping
traditions alive, involving people rather than simply
delivering a product — that’s what the Flurry has always
been about. The Flurry Roots Band does all that, plus it’s
a living connection to the early days of the festival. This
band, which closes out the festival in the huge Paul
Rosenberg Dance Hall each year, combines older players
(tradition bearers) and tunes from the early years with
new(er) young(er) players, new tunes, and new energy —
as when Andrew VanNorstrand switches from rhythm
guitar to a wild (but well-phrased) solo break. What other
festival ends with a hot multi-generational band whose
ages span more than 60 years?
At the end of the Flurry, we all need a big emotional
boost — some extra energy to carry home. Twenty years
ago, just gathering a throng of musicians was enough to
deliver high energy to the dancers, even if the throng
mostly played tunes in unison. Today, dancers expect
more than a mob, they want musicians who do something
with the tunes. When the final band was as big as the
stage allowed, the amount of mix-it-up, onthe-fly combinations and harmonies was minimal. Now
that the Roots Band is smaller, more musical interaction
and arranging happens.
The Early Years Flurry founder Paul Rosenberg doesn’t
remember who performed in the first Roots Band. Paul
does remember where he got the idea for how to end the
festival, though. “I had attended so many David Kaynor
dances at Greenfield during the 1980s and witnessed the
great sound, fun, fellowship, excitement, of a lot of good
musicians jamming. …Also my first Ashokan Northern
Week [held near Woodstock, NY] I believe was 1988, and
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When Paul first floated the idea of a winter dance event,
both David Kaynor and Bill Matthiesen provided a lot of
support. David recollects, “Paul and I used to toss a lot
of ideas around. I can't remember specifics. But we both
had what I recall were really nice visions for the
experiences people would share. We were idealistic.”
The program from the second Flurry is a one-page sheet
with no festival title, just the date—“Feb. 25 & 26,
1989”--and a map of the Farnsworth Middle School at
the top. The list of musicians was short; the band
members for the last set were Jay Ungar, Molly Mason,
Pete Jung, Bill Tomczak, George Wilson, Nick Hawes,
and Mary Cay Brass. By 1993, the last session is called
Contra Dance Party; listed are callers D. Kaynor, T.
Grant, C. Butcher, P. Rosenberg, K. Wedderburn, J.
Baker, T. Parkes, “and a host of musicians.”
“The Saturday night and Sunday afternoon contra parties
were absolutely incredible music-making moments in the
first several years,” Paul recalls. “In fact, almost every
year, from 1989 at least till we moved to Saratoga in ’94, I
had one or two crying episodes during one of those jams.
The music was so incredibly passionate, powerful,
moving, that I let my emotions overcome me. I just
could not believe how incredible the music could be!”
Participation was by invitation for the first few years, Paul
remembers; it was one big group with a rotation of piano
players. But others showed up to sit in. “As I recall, the
early versions of the ‘parties’ were pretty open,” says
David, “I think just about anybody could play.” At some
point in the mid-1990s, Paul asked him to “organize” the
parties, “the goal being to create some functional
subgroups of the crowd of musicians. I had what I
thought were good ideas, but they proved to be
otherwise,” says David. “Later, Stuart [Kenney] ran them
and things seemed to go pretty well.”
Fiddlers extraordinaire Jay Ungar, Cedar Stanistreet,
John Kirk, and Eric Buddington generate harmonic
energy in the 2009 Roots Band.
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From Kaynor to Kenney Stuart Kenney first came to the
Flurry in 1991 with the Greenfield Dance Band. He got
involved in organizing the musicians for the final dance
session a few years later. Stuart tried quick changes
between several small groups, different mixes and
matches of the big-name bands. “I ran the final dance big
jam band for six years,” he explains. “Paul approached
me to help facilitate a smoother, more organized pinnacle
for the last dance of the weekend. I put in my energy to
help develop his vision. This was not always an easy task
with all of the personalities involved. I brought in Will
Russell for sound; he has been the main hall sound guy
since.” Stuart notes that providing good-quality sound for
the final dance jam had proved difficult, but “Will always
made it go smoothly.” Stuart always had Paul call the
festival’s final contra, which “featured Paul as the
founding organizer and gave the community a chance to
acknowledge him.”
Stuart may have started the
tradition of using Bob
McQuillen’s tune for the last
waltz. “I don't think we started
[playing] Amelia until McQuillen
started coming, about 7 to 10
years ago,” recalls Paul.
(Tunesmith and piano player
Bob McQuillen was first listed
in the 2002 Flurry program.)
“Amelia had been played on and
off over the years because it is
Bob McQuillen
both a beautiful and well-known
Photo: Lawrence White
waltz,” Stuart explains. “When I
organized the final dance, I made
sure it was the final waltz. I made a point to honor Bob
McQuillen for his years of service to the community — it
seemed appropriate to have him play piano for it each
year because he is such a living legend.”
Recent Refinements When I took over organizing the
Roots Band a few years back I called up many of the
musicians who had played the final dance, which
revealed some surprises. For one, a lot of the regulars
were reluctant participants. Not all musicians like being
pulled away from their carefully crafted and rehearsed
sets. Playing with new folks means no comfortable
routines to fall back on. The Roots Band demands
listening and sharing, sitting out at times, and switching
gears at a few seconds’ notice in response to the caller, or
an idea thrown out by one of the players, or a surge of
energy on the dance floor. Jazz players take such
challenges for granted, but it’s important to keep these
skills alive in the contra community as well. It’s been a
challenge to come up with a structure that promotes
Da n ce Fl u rry Or ga n iza o n
Lawrence White
DanceFlurry News 2011
mixing and musical conversations; rotating duos for part
of each medley seems to work well. Set lists created in
advance make it more fun for the musicians. The contra
repertoire has gotten so huge that finding common tunes
takes a lot of effort; twenty years ago the range of tunes in
the contra community was much smaller!
The Flurry features more types of dance and music now,
and it attracts a much wider audience. In the early days,
many if not most attendees were experienced contra
dancers. Now in the Paul Rosenberg Hall the crowd
includes people who have never danced a contra — swing
dancers, tango dancers, even non dancers who wander in,
especially as other activities wind down. By Sunday
afternoon, even the diehard contra dancers are a bit brain
-dead. Well-phrased music (with a more traditional
structure) helps. It steers tired dancers through the
figures, so they stay “in the zone” with minimal brain
cells — and the caller doesn’t have to call the whole time.
(Any caller can tell you that a dance that’s fabulous earlier
in the weekend can fall apart on Sunday afternoon.) Tired
dancers also need energy from their musicians—a good
rhythm section is essential.
Continued on page 10
At a recent Flurry, I passed one of the many huddles
of musicians in the hallway. They had no audience but
themselves, yet their music was of such beauty that I stopped,
dumbstruck. Strings were expertly playing a jaunty jig, and
a bass saxophonist was matching them at their own tune,
note for note, with nuanced virtuosity. The richness of their
combination left me enraptured. This, for me, represents the
musical side of the Flurry: playing for love and beauty. My
hat is off to all of the skilled, generous, and good-natured
musicians who play there. Thank you! Dan Shawhan
My first Flurry was at the Westmere Elementary School
(the very first Flurry!). I didn't live in the area at the time,
but I was able to get a place to stay with a local dancer. My
friends and I came with sleeping bags, danced all day and into
the night, then slept on her living room floor. It was very
snowy, so we had to dig out the next morning. I've been
coming ever since! Bonnie Terry
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The Flurry Fes.val:
Growing Be8er Year by Year
Fern Bradley
A single Saturday,
three dance halls, a few
workshops, 30
performers, and 300
dancers at a school in
Guilderland.
T
hat was the
birth of the
Flurry Festival in
1988, 24 years ago.
From that
successful start, the
Flurry has
blossomed in size
and duration, changed venues, survived crises, built a
loyal following of dance and music lovers who return year
after year (many with the second generation in tow), and
inspired a wide range of dance series offered year-round.
Festival founder Paul Rosenberg picked Saturday,
February 13, for the first Flurry so that dancers could
enjoy a full weekend of dance fun. They could attend the
Eighth Step contra dance on Friday night (dancing to Jay
Ungar, Molly Mason, and Mary Des Rosiers), go to the
February Dance Flurry (as it was then called) on Saturday,
and then travel to Brattleboro on Sunday for the Dawn
Dance (an all-night dance event). “A lot of contra dance
fanatics did the whole weekend,” says Paul. “We were
younger then!”
Actually, that first Flurry was not the first dance festival
held in the Capital Region. In 1986, the Old Songs
organization sponsored the Old Songs Winter Dancefest.
Bob Henshaw and Sharon O’Connor laid the
groundwork for that weekend festival by traveling to
Boston, Connecticut, and other Northeast sites to spread
the word and offer home hospitality from Capital Region
hosts for those who came to Albany for the event.
Dancefest was a success, but it was not repeated in 1987.
Paul recalls that missing the Dancefest was part of his
inspiration to start the Flurry.
A Big Leap For the second Flurry, the festival was
expanded to a two-day event and moved from Westmere
Elementary School to the Farnsworth Middle School.
Patti Melita joined the organizing committee that year and
took over the financial management.
In that pre-electronic era, Patti handled all Flurry mailings
by hand. Her dining room table was “command central”
Da n ce Fl u rry Or ga n iza o n
and her daily routine involved
processing ticket requests,
stuffing envelopes, and
walking across the street to
mail things out.
The response to the 1989
festival was very
enthusiastic—more than
1,000 people attended! With
that solid foundation, the
festival continued for the next
several years at the
Farnsworth School.
Mixing in Some Jam Right
from the start, the Flurry
included both English
Country dancing and swing
dancing as well as
Scandinavian and
international folk dancing.
While Paul envisioned a
festival that would offer
contras throughout, he’d also
enjoyed the diversity of dance
offerings at New England
Folk Festival Association’s
annual spring festival
(NEFFA), the Old Songs
Festival, and Albany’s Festival
of Nations. Each year, Paul
and the festival committee
worked to make that vision a
reality. “I wanted to include
African dance and so much
more. I brought groups like
Polkabration Dancers to the
Flurry,” Paul says.
Year One of the Flurry was
all dance, but “I wanted to
expand it to be a little bit like
Ashokan [the dance camp
held near Woodstock].” Paul
says. “I liked all the music
workshops and jamming.” He
planned organized jams with
designated session leaders,
but he also wanted to
encourage people to jam
wherever there was space.
“The jamming really caught
on after a couple of years,”
Paul says. Now walking
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Page 7
through the
hotel lobby is
a unique
auditory
journey
where you
pass a group
of old-time
fiddlers, then
a group
centered
around a hammered dulcimer, guitarists swapping licks,
and still more fiddlers. Doug Haller, Flurry
administrative director from 2006 to 2009 and in 2011,
notes that recent organized jams have been assigned to
spaces where people can participate congregate without
having to buy a festival ticket, such as in the atrium near
the Patti Melita Ballroom entrance.
Young
People at the
Flurry Early
on, there was
some
hesitation
about
scheduling
activities for
families,
mainly
because of a
concern
Top and middle photos: Lawrence White
about insurance
and liability. But as early as 1989, the schedule included
the Ivy Vine Players and a “Silly Songs” session led by
George Wilson. The Flurry soon came to offer a whole
program track of family-oriented sessions. Paul says an
important goal was to encourage teenagers to come to
the Flurry and the focus on teens began in about 1996 or
1997; it “took about 5 years to blossom. It brought tears
to my eyes to see it happen.” In fact, today’s Flurry goers
would probably find it impossible to imagine the Flurry
without teens and young adults. Young people are active
as both dancers and performers, including several youth
fiddle groups who play concert sets and an all-teen band
who played for one of the contra dance sessions at the
2011 Flurry. Doug recalls his excitement for his son and
other members of a Guilderland High School club, when
they stepped in at the last minute in 2001 to lead a hip
hop dance workshop after the teacher had to cancel.
Performances The Flurry has also evolved as a place
for music and dance performance. In 1998, Patti Melita
(who had taken on the role of festival director that year)
suggested that the Flurry take over booking musicians for
the hotel’s High Rock Pub venue. The hotel manager
agreed and, for several years, festival goers seeking a
break from dancing have refreshed their spirits and their
palate while enjoying jazz combos, Celtic bands, Jamaican
dance hall music, honky-tonk, samba, and a mix of singersongwriters. Flurry performances have also spread to
venues such as the Parting Glass Pub and Caffe Lena.
“One new feature that has become extremely popular is
Saturday evening’s percussive dance performance
organized by Livia Vanaver,” says Bob Henshaw, who
has been in charge of the sound crew for at least 23 years.
Trish Miller, popular clogger and singer, hosts the
program which is anchored by the Vanaver Caravan
dancers and band. About 15 performances are presented
in an hour and a half, and Bob makes certain he assigns
some of the most able stage managers to make the rapid
change-overs. The percussive traditions represented can
range from Southern clogging to African ceremonial,
Black South Step, Spanish Flamenco, and beyond. The
Flurry’s community spirit is in full force at the event as
the audience helps with the challenge of quickly
converting the Saratoga Music Hall dance floor to
audience seating for over 300 and then back to a dance
floor.
Continued page 8
My new fiancée introduced me to the Flurry in
1993. I drove us there in my manual-transmission car,
which he could not drive. Snow fell heavily on the trip from
Syracuse to Albany, continued through dinner with his
godmother's family and it was still snowing when we checked
into the hotel. As we entered my hotel room, he asked if I
needed to do anything before we went dancing. I turned to him
with a stunned look. Driving in the snow and meeting new
relatives-to-be were tiring, and I was ready to turn in. But he
wanted to dance: That's what he came for! Dumbfounded and
speechless, I drove us to the Guilderland school, where parking
was difficult. Readers, I married him anyway. But now we
always take a car we both can drive when we go to Flurry.
Gretchen Pearson (wife of Carmen Giunta)
The Backyard Circus entertains families
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Page 8
Real-Life Flurry Legends
Two stories that stand out
among Flurry legends relate
to water and wind. About
two weeks before the 1994
festival, water pipes burst in
the Farnsworth Middle
School, flooding portions of
the building and destroying
the floors. Repairs would
not be complete in time for
the festival. “I thought right
away, ‘We will get another
site,’” Paul says. “I refused to give up. I immediately
started thinking we would have to look for other middle
schools, or even larger elementary schools. We struck out
right and left.” The managers of some venues were very
receptive, but those venues were too small, and it was
Marion Altieri who made the Saratoga connection.
Some of the festival organizers agreed to the relocation
“with great trepidation. The question was, ‘Would it
work to go so far [from Albany]?’” says Bob Henshaw.
Fortunately, the organizers found a great ally in Joe
Dalton of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, who
enthusiastically helped to find spaces, cobbling together
sites at the Saratoga Music Hall, the City Center, and
Skidmore College. Patti Melita remembers a huge logistic
issue: notifying festival goers of the move to Saratoga in
that pre-Facebook and nearly pre-email era. Postcards
were mailed to the whole Flurry mailing list, and the word
spread. In the end, she recalls, only one person showed
up at the Farnsworth Middle School on Flurry weekend.
Doug Haller, a DFO Board member at the time, said that
from the first, “It felt like a resounding success” to be in
Saratoga. There was no question that the festival had
found a new home. Paul quotes a front page
“Saratogian” headline from 1994 saying “Group Promises
to Return Next Year.”
Then there was the 2006 festival when “dancing in the
dark” became the motto. On Friday morning, a huge
wind storm flattened trees and power lines, leaving the
entire city of Saratoga without power. The City Center
rented a huge generator and the committee scrambled to
arrange a much-condensed version of the Flurry. Festival
attendees were largely unfazed, dancing in dim light,
coping with dark and cold hotel rooms on Friday night
and hoping for the best on Saturday.
However, with no heat, electricity, or hot water, most of
the activities had to be cancelled and the end result was a
huge financial loss, not to mention frustration and
I love the Flurry because the atmosphere is inclusive
and warm and trusting. My fondest memory of this last
Flurry was when Mike Newton and I met up and attended the
drum workshops. Everyone was drumming wildly yet in
rhythm. Someone right in front of us left the drum and Mike
(what a gentleman!!) invited me to take a go at it...exhilarating!
As Mike took his turn, two young women began to dance to the
rhythm in the middle of the circle. It was primal and
spontaneous—LIFE being lived in the moment. It was very
touching to me, an experience that will keep me coming back.
Melinda Durller
I was at a late-night swing dance at the Flurry, sitting
near the windows and watching wistfully as graceful couples
sashayed around the floor. This extremely attractive guy kept
catching my eye—even while dancing with other women.
Eventually, he approached and, with an adorably cocked
eyebrow, asked me to dance. I accepted, despite my aching feet
(who wouldn't?), and we didn't leave each others' sides for the
rest of the night. He made me a better swing dancer; I made
him my husband. Lily Feldman
disappointment for performers, festival goers, and the
festival committee. The final outcome, however, was the
Flurry community’s extraordinary response that began
with some performers tearing up their paychecks on stage
and ticket holders donating the cost of unused tickets. A
fund-raising campaign brought in over $90,000 and
restored the DanceFlurry Organization to financial
stability. The 2007 festival was planned and presented on
schedule and with great rejoicing.
Fes%val Stewardship Attendance grew steeply during
the first few festivals, continued to grow moderately and
has been fairly stable for the past five years. However,
the number of participants is only one measure of
growth, and each year the Festival committee has worked
to help the festival grow better, not necessarily bigger.
Finding appropriate
venues is a challenge. Due
to increasing difficulties
with transportation,
scheduling, and cost, the
Canfield Casino, the
National Museum of
Dance, and Skidmore
College are no longer
Flurry venues. The
Saratoga Music Hall,
however, “is a very
popular venue we would
never want to lose,” Bob
Dances of India, 2010
Photo: Lawrence White
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DanceFlurry News 2011
Page 9
notes. Currently, committee and Board members are
researching how to improve on the vinyl-covered
concrete floors in some of the City Center’s large dance
halls (see page 3).
The overarching challenge is to continue a commitment
to the diversity of the dance and music styles offered at
the festival. While some festival attendees only wish to
dance modern contras from start to finish, there has been
a quantitative shift toward swing dancing to
accommodate other dancers. “The diverse dance
offerings draw favorable evaluations every year,” Bob
says. The Flurry relies greatly on evaluations from over
300 dancers to plan the next year’s event.
“I’ve evolved to
thinking that
having contras all
the time is not
healthy,” Paul
reflects. He
encourages every
attendee to try a
different type of
dance at least once
during the
weekend, to take a break to visit the vendors and listen to
a group jamming. Paul says, “I have mixed feelings about
whether the Flurry should grow more or not. It’s like one
of the best things in life, and we want more people
exposed to it. To have it all over the city would be
wonderful, but it would be way too much work.”
adventure of slipping into a workshop of a style of dance
I’ve never tried before. I make sure I try at least one new
style at every Flurry. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I
don’t, but it truly is a pause that refreshes. What stands
out in my memory?
* Stumbling a bit as I adapted to the unusual and
sometimes challenging rhythmic patterns of Middle
Eastern dance, then getting into the groove.
* Learning to slow down and move with my partner in a
new and different way for Argentine tango.
* Trying out Texas two-step, and not really liking it, but
loving the music of Girl Howdy!
* Working up a sweat in an exhilarating Guatemalan
dance session taught by a dynamic young member of
the Vanaver Caravan.
* Twirling, laughing, and testing my limits in the Rueda
de Casino (Cuban salsa wheel dancing) workshop.
And I always try to dance awhile during Ralph Sweet’s
singing squares. Even if you’ve never square danced, or
think you don’t like square dancing—you’ve gotta try it!
Or maybe you’ve gotta try to learn the hambo, or do
some African dancing, or zydeco, or …. Well, you pick.
Just be sure you break out of your groove at least once
each festival, whether you’re a dyed in the wool contra
dancer, or swing dancer, or English dancer. There’s no
better place than the Flurry to have a dance adventure.
Always An Adventure I (Fern Bradley) agree with Paul
that expanding the Flurry throughout Saratoga would be
an overwhelming task, but I don’t think the festival needs
to get bigger. Even though I’ve attended almost every
Flurry for the past two decades, I still have new dance
experiences every year. Sure, I do a lot of contra dancing
at the Flurry, and I’m sure I’ll never give up contra. But
one of my favorite things about the Flurry is the
The Great DanceFlurry Floor Project, cont.
From Prototype to Project Stage If the new dance
floor prototype elicits positive feedback from dancers
and meets our quality standards, the Flurry Floor
Committee will recommend that the DFO forge ahead
with “The Great DanceFlurry Floor Project.” The
DFO Board would then take on the mission of raising
funds to purchase, store, and maintain dance floor
panels. The many logistical challenges include
developing an efficient plan and training a dance floor
crew to install and remove the floor; transporting
panels to/from venues; locating a safe storage space;
Da n ce Fl u rry Or ga n iza o n
Lawrence White
and providing for yearly maintenance. Ian Hamelin,
Festival Technical Director, will be working with the
stalwart and committed Festival Committee volunteers
to address these issues.
Can the DanceFlurry community step up to the new
challenge of providing better-quality dance floors?
Given the Flurry’s successful history in overcoming
other significant obstacles, we feel confident that the
answer is “yes!”
Interested in contributing to or volunteering for the Great
DanceFlurry Floor Project? Contact Don Bell,
[email protected], 518-273-5172.
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DanceFlurry News 2011
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Roots Band, cont.
Like the rest of the Flurry, the Roots Band keeps
traditions alive while cultivating innovation. This year
two guys who’ve been attending the Flurry forever came
up to the stage at the end with tears in their eyes. Each
said the last session was the high point of the festival.
After playing that session, Bob McQuillen wrote me, “I
can’t thank you enough for the wonderful experience I
just had at the Flurry. It was the best time I ever had
there, and the last set on the big stage was the best thing
I’ve ever had happen to me. It was so much fun.”
The Finale of the Finale For many years, playing in the
Roots Band meant playing Chorus Jig. Paul Rosenberg
loved calling the dance that goes with this tune as the
next-to-last dance at the Flurry. (It became the last dance
after the move to Saratoga.) In the early years at the
middle school, when everyone in the room was a contra
dancer, it was a much-loved tradition. In recent years, the
length of the contra lines in the Rosenberg Hall and the
participation of non-contra dancers in the weekend’s final
dance often led to tangled lines in the crowded middle
sets and chaos in the side sets, leaving more than a few
dancers frustrated rather than elated. For the past two
years, Paul has ended the Flurry by calling another classic:
The Baby Rose, a great David Kaynor dance. This year,
Chorus Jig was the finale of the next-to-last session, as
David Millstone called it to end his “chestnuts” session.
Will this become a new tradition?
ADIRONDACK DANCE WEEKEND
SILVER BAY YMCA, LAKE GEORGE
SEPT. 21-23, 2012
New DFO Affiliate dance series include the Bennington,
VT, Community Contradance (top leI), Albany Lindy &
Blues Exchange and the Capital English Country Dances.
Outreach events in 2011 included an introductory
contradance at SUNY Albany (top right) and the DFO
Megaband playing for a free contradance at Scoa’s
Freedom Park (above). The Youth Commi8ee also
sponsored a two-day dance residency at Saddlewood
Elementary School in Colonie, including an evening
dance event with parents.
DANCE EVENTS FOR
THE DFO COMMUNITY
More info at www.danceflurry.org
Albany Contradances!
Albany Lindy & Blues Exchange
Bennington Community Contradance
Buhrmaster Barn Contra Dance (Colonie)
Capital English Country Dancers (Albany)
Capital Swing (Albany)
Diamond Dance (Saratoga Springs)
Family Dances (Delmar and Albany)
Glens Falls Contra Dance
Homespun Barn Dances (Albany)
Hubbard Hall Contra Dance (Cambridge)
Old Songs Contra Dances (Voorheesville)
Rensselaer English Country Dance (Troy)
Saratoga Contra Dance
Stockade Assembly (Albany) English Country
All photos on this page: Don Bell
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DanceFlurry News 2011
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During the power outage Flurry in 2006, I
supplied one of the musicians in Bare Necessities (an
English Country dance band) with the bare necessities (my long
underwear) so she would be warm enough to sleep in an unheated
hotel room. We also took in about six dancers on Saturday
night who were refugees from unheated hotel rooms. Don Bell
Membership Informa.on Form*
Please complete the following or join or donate
online at www.danceflurry.org/helpus.
Memberships run the one calendar year : Jan. 1 to Dec. 31
Date ____________
____ New ___ Renewal ___ GiI
My first Flurry dance was four months before I was born.
Name:* _________________________________________
Since then, I have gone to the Flurry yearly. I even went with a
broken leg and when I was partially blind. I learned to dance at
the Flurry; now, I perform and teach dance there. Flurry people
welcome each other with a warmth hard to find elsewhere. The
community is so friendly and welcoming, anyone who goes is
pulled into the spirit of it. I know I was. When the Flurry
comes, our house gets excited. For us, the Flurry is a time to
relax and have fun. Zack Marshall
Address: _________________________________________
City: ____________________________________________
State: ________ Zip+4: _______________ ____________
Email: ___________________________________________
Phone: _________________________
*If this is a giI membership, complete the form with recipient’s
informaon and add your name and contact informaon here:
My first Flurry was THE FIRST Dance Flurry. My
________________________________________________
husband (John Guay) and I performed in Doc Murphy's SoftSoled Shoes String Band for one of the contras. We were playing
Round the Horn as a sound check. A fellow happened by and
indicated that he liked the music. I asked him if he knew the
tune! He said yes, and laughed. I had no idea that he was the
composer! And to this day, I still don't recognize Jay Ungar by
sight. Vonnie Estes
________________________________________________
We Need Volunteers! I can help: ___ run local dances
___ with organizaonal acvies
Dance Interests
____ Contra
____ English
____ Swing
____ Tango
____ ScoNsh
____ Family
Without the Flurry I would not have found love! I flew
____ Ballroom
____ Salsa
____ Waltz
across the country to attend my first Flurry last year, and I was
swept off my feet by the whole experience and by a certain
someone special. He asked me to dance while on the swing dance
floor, and was I initially apologetic because I wasn't certain of the
steps. Kindly, he said, "Just look into my eyes, keep smiling,
and everything will be just fine." Indeed it has been ever since!
____ Internaonal
Janelle Peotter
Basic Membership
I will always remember my first Flurry, in 2009. To me
____ $25 Individual
it’s synonymous with feeling at home for the first time in a new,
strange place. Having just recently moved to Saratoga from the
Midwest, I’d been struggling with finding friends and acclimating
to my new residence. It was when my new friend Frank took me
to the Flurry that I thought to myself: “This is home, and I’m
going to be happy here.” The vibe I got from the festival was that
positive and strong. Dance Happy! Nur Atalay
____ $15 Limited Income Individual
I had been attending the Flurry since 1996, only going to
I approve public recogni.on of my membership and/or
dona.on
___ Yes ___ No
hear my friend Alex and his band play for the Latin sessions.
In 2001, my brother (who had starting contra dancing a year or
so before) dared me to try contra. I wound up in "the big room"
on Saturday night, dancing Wizard’s Walk for my very first
contra experience. Having 26 years of experience in tap and
jazz dance, marching band, colorguard and drill team really
helped me get through that first dance in one piece! I took to it
immediately, and have been contra dancing ever since.
____ Cajun/Zydeco
____ Scandinavian
Other: _____________________
Music Interests:
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
____ $45 Couple/Family
Donor Membership (Tax deducble)
___ Supporter $50
___ Partner $500
___ Sponsor $100
___ Angel $1000
___ Patron $250
Other: $_________
___ Requesng employer match
I would like a: ___ member card OR ___ name tag
Please complete and mail it along with your check payable
to DanceFlurry Organizaon to:
DanceFlurry Organiza.on Membership
PO Box 448
Latham, NY, 12110-0448
Karin Alberga
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(Hudson Mohawk Traditional Dances, Inc.)
PO Box 448
Latham, NY 12110-0448
NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION
US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT
No. 435
ALBANY, NY
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
Connecting and Inspiring Through Traditional Music and Dance
BPQRS PT DRUPR
President: Jen Brown
Vice-President: Don Bell
Secretary: John Guay
Treasurer: Rich Pisarri
Gabriel Holmes
Esther Haskvitz
Janice Joyce
Terry Kinal
Laura Perrault
Rosalee Ruediger Hamelin
Bill Schwarz
Linda Wicks
Board Members, Emeritus
Bill Ma(hiesen
Pat Melita
Paul Rosenberg
DFO Finance Director:
Chrissie Van Wormer
DFO Administrator, Newsle(er
layout: Lorraine Weiss
Photos, Right & Top: Don Bell
Far Right: Lawrence White
FVRRW FXQV
Administra.ve and Marke.ng Director: Tamara Flanders
Program Director: Peter Davis
Technical Director: Ian Hamelin
Fes.val Finance Director: Chrissie VanWormer
Administra.ve Assistant: Sue Mead
Volunteer Newsle8er Editor: Fern Bradley
It’s easy to keep up to date with dance events when you
subscribe to our monthly newsle(er/dance calendar.
Go to www.danceflurry.org. Enter your e-mail address in
the “Subscribe” box and click on the Subscribe bu(on.